The final push to National Signing Day is on, and the UMass Minutemen hosted their last recruiting weekend of the season over the last several days. The players visiting Amherst were varied in both position and notoriety, and UMass secured verbal commitments from four of them, and there could always be more.
The first commitment came early in the weekend on Friday night, as big lineman Zuriel Davis (Andrew Jackson HS, Jacksonville, FL) pledged to the Minutemen for 2016:
Davis is a beast on either side of the ball, but he’s being recruited to UMass as a defensive lineman. He’s 6’5″ and about 320lbs, and he’s damn near unblockable on the interior of the D-line. He’s powerful, disruptive, and commands a double team to be contained. He has had a good deal of interest from big-time schools such as FSU, Georgia, Miami, Florida, etc., but never received any offers. Davis’ issue has been his grades. They prevented him from receiving offers from some of the biggest schools in Florida, and he is still working in order to get qualified under the NCAA guidelines.
The good news is that Davis is much closer to actually being qualified than I would have originally thought, and while there is a danger that he does not qualify for the Minutemen next season, he is worth the roll of the dice given his great talent and high ceiling.
EDIT: Bob McGovern posted his always excellent recap over on the Maroon Musket this morning as well, and per that piece, Davis’ commitment is not currently accepted by the Minutemen staff. The academic concerns have prevented them from taking Davis as of right now.
Hopefully that gets cleared up for him and they’ll be able to take him; the situation there is worth watching closely going forward.
UMass’ second commitment came on Saturday in the form of athlete Martin Mangram (Buford HS, Buford, GA). Mangram, who’s older brother Brandon is also a Minuteman who just completed a redshirt season last year, is a terrific athlete from a powerhouse high school in a powerhouse state. He was a serious weapon on both sides of the ball for Buford but will be playing cornerback for UMass, and he has a real chance to come in and start next year out of the gate.
He’s a very highly-rated prospect and a great get for the UMass program, choosing the Minutemen over several P5 offers like Iowa, Iowa State, Syracuse, and others. Grabbing the brothers Mangram out of Buford over the past two seasons sets up a bit of a pipeline to the powerhouse Georgia high school, which is never a bad thing.
UMass’ third commit of the weekend was Bilal Ally, a 3-star running back from Jacksonville area in northern Florida (Clay HS, Green Cove Springs, FL):
Ally is a big steal for the UMass program, a prolific player in high school, especially as a senior, Ally had interest from some P5 programs (notably Georgia Tech) before an ACL injury in his junior year seemed to back some teams off. Ally rehabbed well however and came back extremely strong for his senior year. However his interest was still from the G5 with the likes of Akron and Troy as contenders for his services. UMass made the move though and I think teams are going to regret letting Ally get away from them.
Both Ally and Davis are from the Jacksonville area, and are great examples that UMass will go all over Florida (south, central, north, it doesn’t matter) to find talent and bring those players to Amherst. They LOVE Florida and are planting the UMass flag down there very effectively.
UMass’ fourth and final commitment from this past weekend (so far) is defensive lineman TJ Rayam from the Heart of Dixie (Thompson HS, Alabaster, AL). Rayam is a bit of an undersized DT at 6’1″ but he’s 300lbs and possesses very quick hands and feet, which are a great asset to him in the trench battles he’s involved in on the line. Rayam is also a champion wrestler in Alabama, and that type of strength is a virtue as a defensive lineman.
Rayam is definitely a sleeper, as UMass turned out to be his only FBS offer. He did also hold an offer from FCS Jacksonville State in Alabama, but Rayam chose the Minutemen and will make the trek north for his football career.
Rayam also has the football bloodlines as his dad Thomas played for the Crimson Tide and his uncle Hardy played for Notre Dame. He’s another player that teams will regret missing on in a few years.
Rayam and Mangram (and Ally and Davis) show just how much the Minutemen value the southern United States when it comes to recruiting. This weekend has netted four commits from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and UMass is really making their presence felt down there on the recruiting trail.
This weekend also had three future DLs on campus as commit Leyshawn Askew was also on his official visit, and the boys got together for a shot with their position coach Dave Sollazzo:
At the time that was posted they were 86th, and at the time this is being written they are actually sitting at 85th. For comparison, UConn is currently 92nd, Temple is 73rd, and Boston College is 70th. UMass is also currently 2nd in the MAC as far as ratings go, only behind Western Michigan (currently 61st nationally).
That’s an outstanding job by this staff identifying and landing players that are not only talented but fit the program’s needs. There are a lot of reasons why UMass is having this much success recruiting this season, but at the top of the list is certainly the opportunity for early playing time and the competitive schedule UMass has set up for themselves. Being and FBS independent is not ideal and hopefully not the case for all that long, but in the interim it is definitely helping attract players to Amherst in my opinion.
This was a great weekend for UMass, and National Signing Day is fast approaching on Wednesday, February 3rd. There are still commitments to take for UMass which makes the days leading up to it even more exciting, and I cannot wait to see how this class finalizes.
This weekend at the mass was unforgettable with my boys ⛽️💯
UMass’ #OptimusPrime16 rallying cry for recruiting the class of 2016 has nearly reached its crescendo on National Signing Day, but before that there is one final recruiting weekend push for commitments from some of the Minutemen’s top targets. That weekend begins today (Friday).
I’m piecing this together late on Friday afternoon, and will be updating it throughout the weekend as I did last weekend when UMass hosted the other half of their top targets. Once the weekend is complete and the commitments start rolling in (we hope) I’ll have another entry.
Here is the list of visitors this weekend (links go to 247 profile pages, if they have one), again courtesy of the #1 resource for UMass recruiting news, the Maroon Musket:
Here is the link to Bob’s piece on the visitors over on the Musket.
This is an interesting list of prospects, a varied mix from many different positions, though as you can see the majority of uncommitted prospects come from UMass’ favored recruiting territory down south.
Martin Mangram is the brother of current Minuteman Brandon Mangram, who signed with UMass last year in the 2015 recruiting cycle. Brandon redshirted this past season, and Martin has been a target of UMass’ from very early on in the 2016 cycle (they actually offered him in February 2015, shortly after Brandon signed with UMass). The two brothers are very similar, per Martin, and the chance to play together at the next level is a big draw. Martin unofficially visited UMass this past summer.
Martin has been on the top of my list as a fan ever since he was offered by the staff. He’s an outstanding athlete and would be playing CB for the Minutemen. He’s got great footwork, very good coverage skills, and is not afraid to tackle. He’s a weapon on offense for his powerhouse high school team in Georgia (Buford) but plays both ways very effectively and would be outstanding for UMass should he commit. I feel pretty confident about Martin and UMass but as they say, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
UPDATE #4 4:50PM 1/30/16 – Well, it would appear that I could have counted those chickens, as Martin Mangram has committed to UMass this afternoon.
Mangram is a huge get for the UMass program, a very talented player from a powerhouse high school in a state rich with talent. Not only will he be able to make an impact on the field for UMass as early as next year, the fact that we have signed him and his brother last year out of Buford High in Georgia means the Minutemen have laid the ground work for a bit of a pipeline to the Georgia power. That could be very valuable to them in years to come.
UMass’ commits this year have really bonded it seems and they are very quick to congratulate one another on joining the family. That camaraderie is great to see and hopefully it helps lead this class to do big things for this program.
Earlier in the weekend Leyshawn Askew was letting everyone know he was on his way. Askew was UMass’ very first commitment in the 2016 cycle back at the Clam Bake.
There are a few sleeper prospects on this list as well. Larnel Coleman, TJ Rayam, Chris Tucker, not a ton of info out there on any of them. Rayam is rated a 2-star prospect by Scout, but that’s the only ranking anywhere I could find for the three of them.
Coleman is a MA kid, which is nice, and he’s huge. I don’t know which position they’d recruit him for but I think DE might be the best fit based on his tape. If that were the case he’d be the 2nd 6’7″ player UMass has coming in at DE as Sharif Saleem is also committed for that position.
Tucker is another player that’s probably a defender once in college, and he looks dominant against his competition in his film, which is a good thing when that competition isn’t the best; you want the player you’re recruiting to dominate. I don’t think they’d recruit him to be a FB but you never know. Perhaps a move to OLB would be in Tucker’s future.
I’m a big fan of Rayam’s, who dad Thomas played for the Crimson Tide. Rayam’s offer list is just UMass and FCS Jacksonville St, and part of the reason he’s overlooked is his size. He only goes about 6′, but he does weigh 300+ pounds. He’s got very quick feet for a man his size and even quicker hands. I’d love to see UMass snag him out of Alabama and they seem like they could be in a good position to do so. Rayam is also a wrestling champion in Alabama, and those skills come in very handy for him in the trenches.
UPDATE #3 2:00PM 1/30/16 – Rayam looking good in the jersey, posting a photo with his primary recruiter RBs Coach Darrius Smith:
Martial Washington is an interesting prospect. He was committed to Georgia Southern but reopened his recruitment about a month ago. However when looking at his 247 page now you’ll see it says he is recommitted to GaSo as of two days ago. Unsure if that is accurate or not, but either way Washington would be a welcome addition to UMass’ secondary.
He’s a big (6’3″ 210lbs) safety who likes to come up in the run game and loves to hit. That kind of physicality is nice to see, and he would also continue the trend of bigger DBs that UMass has been targeting. I’m definitely a fan although with his recruitment played so close to the vest it’s difficult to tell how interested he is in UMass, though it is of course a good thing that he is visiting the final weekend of the cycle.
Zuriel Davis is a big target, in every sense of the word. He goes 6’5″ and 315lbs and goes by the nickname “Big Country”. He’s an absolute animal on either the offensive or defensive lines, though I think UMass probably has designs on him coming in to play the NG if they got him.
Getting him however is going to be the big challenge. While Davis has had some big, big interest from a lot of big, big schools, his grades prevented those schools from offering him. Schools in the Group of Five like UMass, as I have blogged about before, will target kids who may be in danger of not qualifying academically and try to get them signed in the hopes that they do make it. Big schools can move on to the next kid when something like that arises but schools like UMass can’t, so they have to roll the dice occasionally on a kid right on the cusp of making it.
I don’t know if Davis is on the cusp really, in fact I think he’s a little further away from that, but he’s such a talented kid that it’s worth the risk to try and land him.
I would love for Davis to be eligible and for UMass to steal him, but I’m not holding out hope for it.
Bilal Ally is an explosive RB from Florida who had some serious interest from places like Georgia Tech before he suffered a tough injury during his junior year. H came back very strong this season, with performances like a 496-yard, 6 TD effort in the FL playoffs this year.
I really like Ally and UMass likes him at RB. He’s got fantastic speed and explosiveness and is great in space. He’d make quite the addition to the already large and talented RB class UMass has recruited so far this year. He was down to UMass, App St, Troy, and Akron, though I think now it may be between UMass and Troy.
UPDATE #5 7:15PM 1/30/16 – Ally has just announced a commitment to UMass this evening, adding another dynamic 3-star weapon to UMass’ class this year.
Ally tore an ACL when he was a junior and that seems to have pushed some teams off of him. He came back very strong this year though showing no signs of slowing down because of it. UMass swooped in and stole him out of northern Florida and have made their very impressive 2016 class even better.
Andrew Ford is a really interesting offer. He originally enrolled at Virginia Tech out of Cedar Cliff HS in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania as a 3/4-star QB. He redshirted his first year and the subsequently asked for his release to transfer. He’s at Lackawanna CC now and per his tape, he is a December Grad who has 3 years to play 3 at the next level. Now obviously he did not sign early with anyone during the early JUCO signing period, but he did visit Iowa State and holds an offer from the Cyclones.
He would be an interesting recruit in the sense that were he able to enroll right away this semester, would UMass be able to count him towards last year? That would be huge if possible. Also, he would clearly indicate that the heir-apparent to the QB role in Ross Comis may not be as clearly ensconced as next year’s starter as we might think.
I do believe that schools should recruit one QB per cycle, though not always a JUCO transfer. If UMass is serious about bringing Ford in, who by the way is an impressive player with impressive tape, that means that they are saying the job is up for grabs. Not only that, in my personal opinion it would mean Ford would actually have the inside track to land it because I do not believe he would come to UMass without the chance to start at QB right away.
Sam Franklin as many will remember actually signed with UMass out of high school last year and was a surprise get for the Minutemen, a tall, talented 3-star WR that was ready to challenge for playing time and be a difference-maker right away.
However Franklin’s grades weren’t in order, and UMass had to get him in to prep school in order to fix them. He went to East Coast Prep in Great Barrington, MA, a specific half-year school geared towards athletes with grade problems.
He’s obviously completed that program, and he would be another kid that could count towards 2015 potentially if he were to choose UMass now. He may not of course, and it may not even be possible, but it is something to think about. Now Franklin is free to sign with any school, and he took an official visit to Temple last weekend. We saw with Artayvious Lynn that the fact that he may have signed with UMass last year does not mean he will do so again.
He moved to safety early on this season at ECP, and while he was a WR when he signed last year, he could play either spot for UMass should he sign again. Personally I would put him at WR because of the need there; we wanted him there once before.
UPDATE #1 8:35PM 1/29 – Zuriel Davis enjoying himself so far, and enjoying the world-class dining that UMass is famous for. Minutemen fans will have to hope that his academic situation is not a hindrance.
This is another impressive list of players checking UMass out, and we’d welcome them if they wanted to be Minutemen and part of #OptimusPrime16. I look forward to following along on the weekend and to seeing who ends up joining the movement.
UPDATE #2 10:10PM 1/29/16 – Well Zuriel Davis didn’t waste any time as he tweeted out that he committed to UMass on Friday night.
So Davis’ commitment (which I have to mention has not yet been confirmed by the coaching staff but I’d think it’s legit) would be big for UMass as he is very, very talented. It just comes down to whether or not he’ll be able to qualify. This YouTube video interview with him at the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl talks a little about that. The audio is a little rough but take a look:
So if that’s the case and he’s at a 2.2, he’s not that far off from being qualified provided he gets an acceptable test score. The last I saw was that Davis had earned a 21 on the ACT, which combined with a 2.2 GPA means he is close but not quite there. He will certainly need to finish out strong though.
This is a link to the NCAA Initial Eligibility Guidelines which states that a player must have a minimum 2.3 GPA in core courses, among other requirements, in order to be eligible. Davis with a 2.2 is in fact right on the cusp of that.
Make sure to check out these highlights of Davis as well. This could turn out to be a serious steal for UMass if he makes the grade.
When he was at the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl they did evaluations and this is what they had to say about Davis:
Zuriel Davis, DL, Jackson (FL): After an impressive effort in this environment, the scholarship count continues to climb, and climb, for the 6-4 and 340-pounder.
NFL Veteran Evaluation: “No one could block Davis. He went out and handled his business. Watch, he will play some big-time ball in college soon,” Darby said.
The University of Massachusetts continued it’s hot streak on the recruiting trail Friday with the commitment of RB Tyler Thompson, a composite 3-star back from Ocean Township HS in Oakhurst, NJ.
News of Thompson’s commitment was first reported by Bob McGovern Jr. and the Maroon Musket in a piece you can check out here.
Thompson, while a very talented back, was a surprise commitment for the Minutemen as he hadn’t been linked to UMass through any of the traditional recruiting services. I personally had no idea he was being recruited by UMass, but then again I’m just some guy with a blog so that’s not groundbreaking…
Thompson, who’s rated between two and three stars depending on the recruiting service (247, Scout, Rivals, ESPN) comes in as a composite 3-star on 247 sports with a grade of .8381. His is particularly highly regarded on 247 where he has a grade of an 87 and comes in as the #43 RB nationally. In the composite Thompson is rated as the #73 RB nationally.
When checking out Thompson’s film on Hudl, you can see that he isn’t a particularly flashy, nor is he indecisive. He looks for his lanes, makes his cut, and goes. He has very good speed which he uses to his advantage as well, but he’s not a guy that’s going to dance looking for the best spot. Confident decision-making is key at the RB position and Thompson has that at the HS level.
Thompson is not the biggest back you’ll see (available information varies but it’s safe to say he’s about 5’11” and 190 lbs) but he still is not afraid to get hit to gain yards. He makes defenders work to tackle him, has a shiftiness that’s very useful, and while he tends to run outside the tackles more than in, he can go up the middle if necessary. Wherever the lane is, that’s where he goes.
He does an admirable job in the passing game as well, which is an area you might see him contributing earlier on in his UMass career with a guy like Marquis Young getting the lion’s share of the carries.
Thompson picked UMass over offers from several “bigger” programs including Boston College, Virginia, Pittsburgh, and more. He may have been lower on some schools’ boards due to an injury he suffered his junior year where he broke his leg pretty severely. Despite that setback, Thompson came back just as strong as he had been and went on to have a great senior season this year.
Check out this YouTube video from Shore Sports Zone to see Thompson’s story in more detail. And below is a story on Thompson’s commitment to UMass from SSZ complete with his high school stats.
As I mentioned Thompson was a surprise get for UMass, and his commitment may have a bit of a ripple effect for some other players UMass is recruiting at the same position.
Thompson is the 2nd running back to commit to UMass in 2016, the other being Tyshaun Ingram. Ingram had mentioned the possibility of potentially playing safety for UMass when he committed, but his best work seems to be from the RB spot. Tyrek Tisdale is an all-purpose back that the Minutemen coaches are really hot after, and he has UMass in his final two with Maryland. Tisdale would certainly come in at UMass as a RB should he commit, and he will remain a priority for the staff until signing day.
The group that would likely be most affected would be the trio of Jo-El Shaw, Bilal Ally, and Peytton Pickett. Shaw was committed to Western Michigan when he officially visited UMass the weekend of December 7th, but has since backed off that pledge. Bilal Ally is officially visiting Amherst the weekend on January 29th, and Peytton Pickett officially visited UMass yesterday per the Maroon Musket:
In other recruiting news: Peytton Pickett (RB, Texas) and Cody Banks (TE, UCF transfer) are also taking official visits to #UMass today.
Those players may have had their potential spots taken by Thompson, or the number of available RB slots in the Minutemen’s 2016 class would have decreased by one. Either way we’ll have to keep a close eye on the recruiting situation going forward with only three weeks to go before National Signing Day.
Thrilled to have Tyler Thompson as the newest member of the Minutemen, and I can’t wait to see who’s next.
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